Archives for March 2017

I use this recipe for roasted vegetables. Once you try it, you’ll never roast them on a sheet pan again 🙂 I like them still warm, on top of a bed of arugula, with some crumbled goat or feta cheese. Heaven!

I didn’t mean to leave the blog silent for so long, but sometimes what you plan and what actually happens couldn’t be more different. Long story short, I spent a week in the hospital for various issues, and ultimately I ended up having back surgery to fix a herniated disc that has made my entire year almost unbearable. I canceled my trip to the USA from my hospital bed, and had a tough few days that I got through thanks to my wonderful family and some great friends who really put a smile on my face in a dark time for me. I’m now the proud owner of a scar on my lower back, but am pain-free (!) and working on getting back on track, in all areas of life. And since this is supposed to be partially a food blog, here’s a pic of breakfast in the hospital 🙂 (!)

I’m still fighting to be 100% healthy, and now truly understand the meaning of the phrase “If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything”. I never thought I would be in this position at 26 years old. However, if there’s any positive that’s come out of this situation, it’s realizing how lucky I am to have so many people who care about me so deeply. From my wonderful, sweet, supportive husband who slept with me in my hospital bed every night, and combed my hair and dressed me when I absolutely couldn’t do it myself, to my dad who flew to Guatemala to watch over my care and make sure I made it home, to my in-laws who ensured I was taken care of and always do so much for us, even when I’m not so sick.

I have a little while still for my recovery, but I’m excited to start cooking and sharing my life on the blog again. Facebook reminded me that 1 year ago today, we boarded a plane to Japan and Thailand, before making our way to Guatemala. I’m excited to be able to travel again soon!

So much has changed in this past year. It’s been the hardest year of my life, from learning a new language to understanding a new culture to accepting a shift in my career, and finally, to dealing with these health issues that have literally knocked me on my butt. However, I know life has a way of balancing itself out and I know I must have some good things coming my way soon.

I’m looking forward to Easter in Antigua with my parents, celebrations of which have been going on throughout Lent here.

and moving into a new house at the end of next month (with grass)!!!

and hopefully making it to the USA in May for a well deserved break and time with my family and friends before heading to Mexico City for a special guy’s birthday!

These past two weeks have been tough. I’ve been mostly confined to a bed, since my back pain has returned with a vengeance. I’ve been barely able to stand up straight, but have been going to PT, acupuncture, and most importantly, trying to stay positive (spoiler: this doesn’t always work). I’m doing what I can to find some relief, but this week (and last) have included more downtime than I would like. The upside? I’ve read 5 books in 2 weeks 🙂 If you’re looking for a book to read, I highly recommend the Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance. His story is fascinating, and he explains in simple terms why it’s so difficult (but not impossible) to move beyond the class you were born into.

Here’s the synopsis from Amazon, if you’d like to read more:

“From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, a probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class through the author’s own story of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town

Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of poor, white Americans. The disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for over forty years, has been reported with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. In Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hanging around your neck.

The Vance family story began with hope in postwar America. J.D.’s grandparents were “dirt poor and in love” and moved north from Kentucky’s Appalachia region to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually one of their grandchildren would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of success in achieving generational upward mobility. But as the family saga of Hillbilly Elegy plays out, we learn that J.D.’s grandparents, aunt, uncle, sister, and, most of all, his mother struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, never fully escaping the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. With piercing honesty, Vance shows how he himself still carries around the demons of his chaotic family history.”

If, like me, you love to read, here are 5 more of my favorites I’ve read over the years…